This invention relates to a support mechanism for covered cooking pots commonly known as Dutch ovens. Such cooking pots are cast iron pots used for baking, roasting or boiling different food items, e.g. pot roasts, stews, soups, potatoes, etc.
It has not heretofore been practical to use dutch ovens on conventional charcoal grilles because the side surfaces of the cooking pots tended to dissipate heat out of the pots. Heat directed into the pot through its bottom wall tended to immediately escape through the pot side walls without significantly heating the food item within the pot. In this connection, it is noted that the surface area of the side wall of a conventional cooking pot is two or three times the area of the pot bottom wall. Also, the lid of the pot acts as a heat dissipating device. Thus, the total surface area for dissipating heat out of the covered cooking pot is appreciably greater than the surface area used to input heat into the pot; because of this fact it is difficult to raise the interior temperature within the pot into a practical cooking temperature range. Another negative factor is that the food supporting racks in conventional charcoal grilles or gas-fired grilles are elevated above the heat source as much as six inches. When the covered cooking pot is placed on the conventional food-support rack its bottom surface is relatively remote from the heat source; the heat tends to dissipate before reaching the pot bottom wall. The present invention relates to a cooking pot support mechanism for use on conventional barbecue grilles. The grille can utilize charcoal as a heat source or combustible fuel gas as a heat source. The invention relates to the pot support mechanism, not the grille construction.
The support mechanism of this invention comprises a horizontal ledge means locatable on the peripheral rim of a firebox, a pot-support platform depressed below the ledge means, and a series of generally vertical suspension struts interconnecting the ledge means and the platform. When the support mechanism is positioned on the firebox of a barbecue grille the depressed platform will be located within the box in relatively close proximity to the box bottom wall. Heat generated at the box bottom wall is enabled to enter into the cooking pot through the pot-bottom wall and also through the pot side wall. The pot side wall is no longer a heat dissipating surface; instead it becomes a heat input surface. The pot heating action is thus greatly improved. The heating action is also improved because the pot bottom wall is now relatively close to the heat source.